BIDDEFORD — The No. 3 Biddeford boys hockey team pushed past No. 6 South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete 6-3 in the Class A South quarterfinals at the Biddeford Ice Arena on Tuesday.

Heading into the second period tied at 1-1, the two offenses would catch fire and would battle to a 4-3 Biddeford lead heading into the third. The Tigers would put the game away with two more goals in the third to advance to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 2 Falmouth.

“We knew that we were going to have to come with our full effort, 110 percent, because we knew they were going to put up a fight,” said Biddeford senior captain Logan Magnant after the win. “We had to realize that this was a big game, we haven’t won a playoff game in five years so we had to make sure to get one.”

Nick McSorley would give Biddeford the 1-0 advantage just 21 seconds into the first on an unassisted goal. However, the Red Riots would knot the score with just seven seconds left in the period on a goal from Eric Walker.

Trevor Ouellette would score off a pass from Trenton Ouellette early in the second to give the Tigers the 2-1 lead. The Red Riots would respond with a goal from Bradley McMains, as well as a shorthanded score from Aidan Schifano to take the 3-2 lead late in the period.

The Tigers would then answer the bell by getting goals from McSorley and Trevor Ouellette in the final five minutes to take the 4-3 advantage into the third.

“We prepared for them all week, pretty much knew what they would bring to the table. I just told the guys that we need to stick to our gameplan. They went up 3-2, we answered right back (and) we answered again,” said Biddeford coach Jason Tremblay. “The game of hockey is 45 minutes long and I felt that tonight they took advantage of a couple of our breaks, but it’s a 45-minute game.”

Colin Petit would score with 6:38 remaining in the third to make the score 5-3, and Magnant would put the exclamation point on the win with another goal 30 seconds later.

Tremblay was proud of his club’s effort, especially on special teams.

“We worked the last three practices on special teams, I thought it really paid off tonight, it’s what won the game,” said Tremblay. “Special teams are huge in the playoffs, even if you get two power plays. I thought our power play really started to move the puck better, we’ve been struggling with it. Our (penalty kill) stayed aggressive tonight on the walls and I was proud of the way they did tonight.”

“We don’t work on just the stuff that everyone works on, we work on special teams. Special teams wins games, so does defense, I think we did a good job with both of those,” added Magnant.

Magnant was also excited to see his freshman teammates contribute in their first-ever playoff game, as McSorley and Trevor Ouellette combined for four goals and two assists.

“It’s great — I know my freshman year watching those seniors cry taking off the jersey and not being able to put it on again, I’m proud of them. They played a great game,” said Magnant.

The Tigers improve to 13-6 overall on the year and will head north to Lewiston to take of the Yachtsmen, who they beat in both meetings in the regular season. Tremblay is confident in his group as they advance to the next round.

“These guys are resilient, they’ve battled back from 3-1 leads in the third with five minutes to go three, four times this year. I don’t sweat it on the bench, they take care of business,” said Tremblay.

NOTE: Magnant, Ian Couture and Liam Turner recorded assists for Biddeford. Gus Lappin and Owen Patrick recorded assists for the Red Riots.

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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